


More Than a Moment

by Kitsilver



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Genre: Drama, F/F, Family, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 11:23:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17938787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsilver/pseuds/Kitsilver
Summary: Kassandra looks at Roxana and wonders when she started to feel like home.





	More Than a Moment

From the moment Kassandra meets Roxana, she is intrigued. She has met few women who could match her in the sparring ring or in the field, and what Kassandra has in size and strength, Roxana has in speed and guile. She is her match.

Kassandra wins that first sparring match, but even so, both are smiling when she helps Roxana stand. Because they have found what they had been searching for.

_You are the champion I have been looking for._

The days that follow fall into a comfortable routine. They rise before dawn, run and train and spar, then stagger home to Roxana’s place at night. They eat a simple meal by the fire, first talking only of battles and fighting strategies, but with time, talking of more personal things. Of family and loved ones and memories of days gone by. Days pass, until one day Kassandra looks up to see Roxana laughing from a story Kassandra had just told her, and something in Kassandra’s heart catches as she looks at Roxana’s face.

_This is what home felt like._

Laughter and warmth. Food and a warm bed. Sharing her time and space with someone who really understands her. Kassandra had not realized how much she had missed this feeling until now.

But why now? She wonders.

When she tries to tell her, words fall short. Kassandra has always been more a woman of action, not of words.

But Roxana understands.

_This time with you has been…_

Roxana smiles and says,

_Say no more. In a strange way, I see my own reflection in you._

Kassandra’s heart beats a little faster because no one has ever said that to her before, and she’s never felt that way about someone either. Roxana is fierce and strong, smart and determined, driven to fulfill her vow and win the Battle for the sake of her family. Kassandra knows what that’s like, to be so driven that everything else falls to the wayside, and she knows what it’s like for family to be that driving force. Roxana lost her family; Kassandra is searching for hers. They are both alone in their own way, set apart from everyone else. But when Kassandra is with Roxana, she feels as if a kindred spirit is nearby. Someone who understands everything Kassandra can’t quite name. She’s never known someone like Roxana.

That is why, after so many days of training, Kassandra now dreads the future that awaits them. Victory at the Battle of One Hundred Hands will allow her to bring down a Cultist, but at the cost of Roxana’s life. Kassandra knows that she cannot do it, not now. But neither can she turn away from Roxana and prevent her from having the partner she needs to enter the Battle. This Battle has been Roxana’s sole purpose since her family died, and Kassandra would not rob her of the chance to fight it now.

_There has to be another way._

Then one day their training ends and Kassandra tells Roxana that she has leave in the morning. So Roxana ends their day how they first began – with a challenge. This time it is a race and not a sparring match.

When they reach the top of the mountain, sprinting side by side, they break through the line of trees together. Kassandra is not sure which of them came first. She thinks she may have had the edge, but Roxana had reached forward at the last moment. Looking at Roxana now though, who is panting for breath with her hands on her knees, her face flushed and smiling, Kassandra doesn’t really care.

“I think I won that time…champion.”

“Maybe.” Kassandra shrugs and smiles. She exhales, then takes a deep breath, feels the salt from the sea breeze filling her lungs as she looks out at the view. From here, the highest point on the island, she can see the seas stretching as far as the eye can see. Islands, large and small, interrupt the vast expanse of blue, dotted by different colored sails. Sea gulls fly in the distance. From here, there is no uncertain future. No Cultists to hunt, no brother to worry about. From here all she can see is the vast expanse of the sea that had called to her since she was a child.

She turns to look at Roxana whose face in profile is framed by the brilliant blue of the sky. She looks striking in this light, Kassandra thinks. Striking… and beautiful. She realizes now that beyond family, beyond the lure of adventure and drachmae, she has found something else – someone else – that calls to her now too.

“It is beautiful here,” Kassandra says, speaking not only of the view. 

Roxana smiles. “My parents used to take me here with my brother and tell us stories of life beyond these shores. I always wanted to go out there and find that life for myself one day.” A bit of melancholy touches her face. “I never thought that I would be here alone, getting ready to fight the Battle without them.”

But you’re not alone, Kassandra wants to say. She almost reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder, then stops, unsure if that touch would be welcome. She stands beside her instead.

“Do you think they would be happy, seeing what you are doing now?”

Roxana shrugs, tipping her head back and looking up as if to search for answers in the clouds. “I hope so,” she says. “I have done everything I can. There are no more sacrifices to make. No more nights spent strategizing, no more days training. I have done all I can.” She nudges Kassandra. “Even found the best training partner that I can.” She smiles, and something in Kassandra’s heart warms at the sight. “I’m glad you found me, Kassandra. I am glad that you will be the one I enter the Battle with.”

Kassandra frowns, feeling that warmth turn to cold in her chest, and turns away. Roxana seems to catch her somber thoughts and nudges her again. “What are you thinking of?”

Kassandra shakes her head. “I can’t help thinking…I wish we did not have to cross swords.”

Roxana’s smile falls. “Don’t do this, Kassandra,” she says fiercely, but there is pain on her face. “You knew what was at stake from beginning. You knew what we were training for.”

“But don’t you wish that—” Kassandra begins, frustrated, not knowing what to say but knowing that she must say _something._

“What, Kassandra?” Roxana meets her gaze head on. “What should I be wishing for? That it was _not_ you that came to Hydrea that day? That you did _not_ meet Drakios? That we did not meet and train for the Battle?” Roxana waits, holding her gaze for so long that Kassandra begins to fidget. “No,” Roxana whispers, “I would never wish for that.” She takes Kassandra’s hand and squeezes it tight. “No matter what happens on Melos, I do not regret meeting you, Kassandra. And I will be honored to fight beside you on that day.”

Kassandra swallows hard, her throat feeling tight with emotion and the words that she can’t find, and squeezes her hand.

Roxana exhales and rises, brushing the dust from her legs. “Come. I did not bring you here to think of such things.”

“Oh?” Kassandra rises too. “Why _did_ you bring me here?”

Roxana smiles. “To live in the moment. What better place than here?” She gestures to Kassandra and together they pull out a blanket and a basket that had been hidden on the plateau. Kassandra’s eyes widen as Roxana pulls out fine loaves of bread, cheese, grapes, pomegranates, almonds drizzled with honey. “And wine!” Kassandra exclaims. Roxana looks pleased as she lays out the goblets and Kassandra pours for them both.

“I think that we have earned it, don’t you?” Roxana says.

Kassandra closes her eyes when the taste of sweet bread, cheese, and honey melt on her tongue. “This is divine.”

She can feel Roxana’s smile even with her eyes closed. “You like sweets then?”

Kassandra grins. “I love them.” She pops another honey coated almond into her mouth, then offers one to Roxana. Roxana arches a brow, and for a second, Kassandra thinks she will take it with her lips. She holds her breath and it is with some disappointment when Roxana takes it with her fingers instead.

“Hmm, that is good.”

“How did you get this?” Kassandra asks. This is much finer food than what they have been eating. She is not complaining for she has enjoyed their meals together: fish and dried meat, vegetables from the garden, plain loaves of bread. Simple and filling fare, flavored by the company. This fine food is a luxury.

“From the villagers,” Roxana replies. “The wolves, remember? They wanted to thank us for saving them that day. This was their thanks.”

Kassandra tips her head and raises her goblet. “Well thank you to the villagers. And to you, Roxana.” Roxana tips her head and they drink together. They eat and drink and talk, telling stories, sharing laughter, until Kassandra realizes the sun has begun to set. It never gets old for her, watching the sun set over the horizon, turning the sky into shades of gold and red. Looking out at the vast expanse of the sea and just dreaming of what comes next, what other adventure lies in wait.

But for once, she’s not looking at the horizon alone. Kassandra wonders, as she looks at Roxana beside her, when her presence had become so…comforting. 

Roxana catches her looking. “What?”

Kassandra shrugs. “Just…admiring the view.”

Roxana arches a brow. “I’m sure you’ve seen many beautiful things in your travels. This must seem…ordinary compared to that.”

Kassandra shakes her head. “I travel a lot, and I see many things. But I can be so focused on drachmae, on finding my family, that I lose sight of what’s in front of me. I have to remind myself sometimes to stop and really see what is in front of me.”

“And what is in front of you?” Roxana asks, leaning forward. Her voice has grown husky, and Kassandra thinks there is nothing as fetching as the brown eyes now locked on hers.

“You,” Kassandra whispers. “I see you.”

Roxana takes a deep breath. She raises a hand to Kassandra’s cheek, gently, and brushes her thumb along her skin. “I see you too. Kassandra…” She looks into Kassandra’s eyes, searching for something, though Kassandra does not know what she is looking for. “I know I shouldn’t do this. I keep telling myself to think about Melos, and the Battle, and how this will only make it harder –”

Kassandra turns her head to kiss the hand Roxana had placed on her cheek. Roxana gasps. “What will? What is it that you want, Roxana?” 

“You,” Roxana whispers. “I want you.”

Kassandra leans forward and when their lips finally meet, the kiss is soft and slow. Lips brush over each other once, twice, and again. It’s nothing like their relationship so far, one marked by competition and drive. It feels instead like a gentle conversation, a back and forth, where they’re finally allowed to say everything they’ve been wanting to say.

_I’ve wanted this._

_I’ve wanted you._

The rest of the world falls away. Thoughts of the Battle to come, of families lost and avenged, of countries at war all fade away. Kassandra loses herself in the warmth and softness of Roxana. Her hand cups Roxana’s cheek, and her lips follow where her hands had been, kissing her cheeks, and her closed eyes, and back to her lips. Roxana’s breathing slows and grows deeper, as if in a trance. She looks up, eyes heavy with desire, and takes Kassandra’s face in her hands and kisses her deep. As if she never wants to let her go.

Kassandra isn’t sure how long they kiss, only that she never wants it to end. At some point, Roxana tugs Kassandra on top of her. Amidst laughter, and kisses soft and languid, other times intense and urgent, they manage to get each other undressed. Which is hard to do when neither wants to stop kissing even for a moment.

“Must you wear so many layers?” Roxana asks.

Kassandra smiles to feel her laughter against her mouth. “Comes with the job, I guess.”

When they are naked at last, Kassandra takes a moment to just to look at Roxana. To see the moonlight playing on her dark skin, to trace her fingers over the counters of her face, the gentle swell of her breasts, the curve of her hips and the muscled thickness of her thighs. She is so beautiful. She whispers this to Roxana, who replies, her eyes shining like starlight, “Thank you. Now come here.”

The night is warm and balmy and far below them one can hear the sound of the sea hitting the shore. The quiet of the night is interrupted occasionally by a gasp, or a moan, then at last a high-pitched cry of release. Roxana lies gasping for breathing as a very pleased looking Kassandra climbs up her body and kisses her soundly, and Roxana can taste herself on her lips.

When she offers to return the favor, Kassandra just covers her hand and shakes her head. “It’s all right,” she says. “I do want it, but right now I just want to hold you.”

Roxana nods and curls into Kassandra’s arms as she wraps the blanket around them both. They fall asleep wrapped around each other, beneath the stars, warm and content in each other’s arms.

\--

When the new day comes, they say nothing for a long while. They kiss once more, long and slow, until the sun rises higher and there is no doubt that the day has truly begun. Then they dress and pack the blanket and basket, and only when all is done, do they turn and face each other again.

The smile on Kassandra’s face falls away as she looks at Roxana. There is sadness there, and something, achingly, like regret.

“Roxana,” Kassandra begins, “are you sure –”

But Roxana shakes her head. “Don’t do this, Kassandra. I cannot turn from my path. I must fight to avenge my family, just as you must find yours. Don’t ask me again.”

Kassandra nods, swallowing past the lump in her throat. “But do you regret last night?”

Now Roxana smiles and Kassandra exhales as Roxana shakes her head. “Never,” she says. “Last night was something I will remember.”

“Good,” Kassandra says, smiling now too.

Then without a word they go to each other, drawn to each other as if they were always meant to be. Kassandra holds Roxana in her arms, traces her cheek with gentle fingers. Roxana looks up, and in her eyes Kassandra feels once again that strange feeling of being home.

“Goodbye, Roxana,” she whispers.

“Goodbye, Kassandra.”

They do not kiss again, only hold each other for a breath longer, eyes closed, just feeling each other there. And when Kassandra finally tears herself away, making her way down the mountain and refusing to look back, she cannot help but feel as if part of herself is being left behind.

She cannot know that as Roxana watches her leave, she feels the same way.

They face a future unknown, to fight in a Battle that can have only one victor. They could die then, or tomorrow, and Kassandra has no idea how it will all work.

But for one moment, one blessed moment, they had each other. And it was enough.

Let the future come.

_I will see you again._

Kassandra stands aboard the Adrestia looking up at the mountain where she had left Roxana. She does not know how she and Roxana will both survive the Battle, only that they must. Because something inside her knows, with certainty, that she will not leave Roxana behind again.

_Until then._

The ship begins to pull away from the harbor and Kassandra shields her eyes from the sun as she continues to look up at the mountain and imagines Roxana up high, watching her go. 

**Author's Note:**

> I love Roxana and Kassandra. She was the first character I fell in love with in Odyssey, and have been trying to write her for months. I hope that you like this story and that their portrayal rings true. Comments mean the world, so do let me know what you think. Thank you for reading!


End file.
